If you listen to WMQ&A, you know that I am a cat person. My wife and I have a cat, Bess, who pretty much controls every aspect of our lives. But what I talk about less, because we currently don’t have one around the house, is that we are also bunny people. And so when you combine my love of bunnies with my love of all-ages comics, it’s going to grab my attention.
This is definitely the case with the recently launched Kickstarter “The Effervescent Adventures of Fight-Bunny” from writer Nate Cosby, artist Jennifer L. Meyer and letterer Ariana Maher. I caught up with Cosby to get the lowdown on Fight-Bunny, Kickstarters and his all-time favorite book, which happens to feature some famous anthropomorphic animals.
Matt Lazorwitz: What is the elevator pitch for “The Effervescent Adventures of Fight-Bunny”?
Nate Cosby: Once upon a time, there was a bunny. She liked to fight, but there was nobody around to tussle with. So she grabbed a sword and a cape and bounded into the forest, looking for adventure. This book captures just one of those adventures, set during the holidays, when a small forest town of animal people have had their homes flooded by beaver dams. It’s up to Fight-Bunny to battle beavers to save an entire forest.
ML: How did you start working with Jennifer L. Meyer on this book? She’s a great Twitter follow for those who love bunny illustrations.
NC: Jennifer and I have been friends so, SO long but have only worked together a couple times. We email each other constantly, being like, “I’m so happy about what you’re working on! Wish we could do something together!” And we started coming up with Fight-Bunny years ago. But because we’re both always so busy, we’ve always put new stuff off. Then this year happened, and things got a bit slower, and we both kept saying, “Well, heck … there’s so much dang sad and hard in the world. … Maybe it’d be fun for us to get to work on Fight-Bunny again. And maybe OTHER people would feel happy to see it!” Cut to now, and we’re putting it out there, for people to enjoy. Because honestly, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to look at Jennifer’s art and NOT feel a little better.
ML: Why did you decide to go the Kickstarter route with this book?
NC: Because Fight-Bunny’s a true labor of love that feels handmade to Jennifer and me and our fantastic letterer, Ariana Maher. And publishers are great, but especially at the end of the year, there’s something so personal and positive about us being able to reach out to everyone we know and say, “HEY! You guys wanna read about a bunny with a sword!? We made it ourselves!” And Kickstarter’s the perfect platform to do that.
ML: Do you have any favorite anthropomorphic animal comics?
NC: The Life & Times Of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa is my favorite book of all time (not just comic, favorite BOOK). Anything I write that features animals is going to be heavily influenced by Rosa. Aside from comics, I love the films Babe, Paddington and Paddington 2. All are excellent examples of cleverness and whimsy, allowing animals to have personality without compromising on emotional storytelling.
ML: What do you like about writing all-ages comics?
NC: Everything. Since I began my career, my favorite thing has been to create stories for the widest age demo possible. It’s not about writing for kids, or grown-ups … it’s about creating something that can connect to people, no matter where they are in life. Those are my favorite kinds of stories, and those are the ones I want to share with people.
ML: You’ve been involved with a number of Kickstarters. What lessons have you learned to help creators interested in doing their own?
NC: Above all, believe in what you’re making, and be disciplined in your preparation.
And if you’re new to Kickstarter … talk to other people that have done Kickstarter! Pick their brains! My friends Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente have both run several successful campaigns, so kicking stuff around with them has been super helpful. And I’ve been truly lucky to work on two previous Kickstarters with the incredible Laser Malena-Webber, who is a true master of all things crowdfunding. Their knowledge and acumen have been a humongous part in my believing that Kickstarter is a great way to get your stories directly to an audience.
“The Effervescent Adventures of Fight-Bunny” is live on Kickstarter now. Check it out here.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
